The Heat, the Heart, and the Hidden Story Behind Sexy Sisters
When Sexy Sisters hit screens in the mid-1970s, it came at a time when European cinema was in the middle of its most daring phase — unapologetic, experimental, and provocatively human. Directed by the controversial but passionate Ernst Hofbauer, the film was marketed as an erotic drama, but within that glossy label lay something much more introspective: a story about the loss of innocence, the ache of sisterhood, and the price of liberation.
For decades, Sexy Sisters has lived in the shadows of cult cinema. It has been whispered about among cinephiles, rediscovered by late-night TV audiences, and misjudged by those who never looked past its title. Behind its daring surface, however, was a team of actors and crew members wrestling with emotional, cultural, and personal challenges. It was the extra emotional investment that turned what could have been a simple exploitation film into something raw, soulful, and strangely relatable.
A Tale of Two Sisters and the World Between Them
At the core of the film Sexy Sisters are two young women, Christina and Maria, who are trying to come to terms with their difference of desire and duty in a changing Europe. One sister captures the essence of the modern world with all its openness and self expression, while the other, with her romantic attachment, represents emotional restraint and the clash of traditional ideals. As they deal with relationships, betrayals, and the diffuse boundaries of pleasure and love, the film becomes an allegory for a generation confused about old world morality and the new morality of liberation.
Hofbauer, with his psychoanalytic skills, has long focused on the relationships of women. Here, the sisters are not archetypes of his previous film, but living contradictions. The film’s emotional sensuality, unlike most of the contemporary cinema, was rooted in the paradox of intimacy as a healing and a destructive force.
However, what truly made Sexy Sisters memorable was the contribution of its leads, Simone Blum and Eleonore Melzer. The depth both actresses brought to their roles, and the ways that surprised even the director, was remarkable. As the more impulsive Christina, Simone was a trained stage performer and emotionally expressive, though initially, she was a bit unsure about filming the erotic scenes. Eleonore, on the other hand, was shy, introspective, and new to acting, battling more self-doubt than the character she was to portray. The dynamic on set corresponded to their characters, one bold, the other cautious, and both were in search of an identity.
When Real Life Crossed Into the Frame
Having made a name for herself in German theater, Simone Blum took it upon herself to prove herself with the role in Sexy Sisters, having been previously pigeonholed to the more conventional parts. She noted in subsequent interviews that this was a role for which the ‘quantum shift’ in her life was made. ‘I was fed up with the parts where the woman was perfect,’ she explains. Christina was ‘flawed, impulsive, and alive’ to the point where it scared her — in the very best of ways she admitted.
Her preparation was more than just physical. Hofbauer asked her to assume the role of Christina and to keep a journal in which, for each day, she described her Christina-like feelings. Some of those writings were said to inspire the improvised dialogue in the later scenes of the film. This use of improvisation was a risky strategy that, in the end, provided the film with a raw and humanistic quality.
To Eleonore Melzer, this experience was much more personal. She was part of a conservative Bavarian family, and so, she had to deal with the movie’s themes off-screen. “My parents didn’t speak to me for months after this,” she admitted later on. “But I needed to do it. It was about owning my choices.”
The emotional distance she carried with her gave her performance a character’s restraint more authenticity than even Hofbauer expected. During one quiet scene — Maria sitting alone by a window with reflections of her sister’s reckless choices — Hofbauer let the camera roll several minutes after the dialogue stopped. The silence, which was so much filled with soft emotion, became one of the most powerful moments in the film.
Chaos, Creativity and Camaraderie on the Set
Sexy Sisters was not without its share of problems. It was filmed in a brisk 6 weeks and was done on a fairly tight budget, much of it being shot on location in a real setting, which provided the film with a semblance of authenticity. Hofbauer’s decision to rely on natural light was a source of considerable frustration for the cinematographer, Franz Xaver Lederle, who makes constant adjustments for unpredictable weather.
However, this was a decision that rendered the film’s hallmark look: grainy, sun-drenched, and personal. The warmth induced by candlelight made some scenes feel more like a confession than a fantasy.
During production, the actors developed a specific closeness. In particular, Simone and Eleonore, despite their differences, became each other’s emotional supports. Preliminary sketches and dialogues of their scenes seemed so intertwined that other crew members thought they were rehearsing. This bond, made during the long dinners, lasted long after the film, despite the differing trajectories of the actors’ lives.
There were moments of tension as well. Hofbauer was known for having such perfectionist tendencies that he would ask for several takes, even for emotionally difficult scenes. One of the particularly intense confrontation sequences had to be filmed over sixteen times. After the twelfth, Eleonore broke down and cried, and Hofbauer had to stop the shoot to comfort Simone, who would not continue until Eleonore was consoled. Hofbauer later recalled this as “a moment of real humanity — the kind that cinema rarely gets to show.”
The Film That Sparked Conversations
The release of Sexy Sisters was bound to evoke reactions, the title itself was provocative. The film, particularly in Germany, had packed audiences, not only due to the word of mouth that it was “more art than erotica” but also due to the curious crowd the title attracted. The criticism was also mixed; while some derided it as soft-core sensationalism, others hailed it for its emotional honesty and feminist tones.
The film ignited conversation, particularly among younger women, about issues of sexuality and the repression surrounding it, as well as the shifting ideas of womanhood in post-war Europe. The debates among fans took issue with the sisters’ choices: Christina, in her pursuit of pleasure, was either exercising empowerment or lost in escapism; was Maria’s restraint a fortifying strength or a submissive surrender?
Years later, the film’s life was rejuvenated when feminist film scholars began studying it, and other European erotica, while incorporating psychological techniques.
They claimed that Sexy Sisters was not intended to provoke any type of sensual amusement but was a form of self-contemplation – a window that demonstrates how a woman’s wants and needs can be misconstrued and even penalized.